Friday, July 16, 2010

Parent Gifts

I'm one of those people that give absolutely terrible gifts - unless I know you. If I do happen to know you well, odds are that you'll get something fantastic. Like a pair of pants with the words "hot legz" YUDU'ed onto the butt. You know you want some.

But sometimes, crazy gifts aren't the most practical - like this super-awesome find I was *this close* to buying for my dad:

A snorkel camera! He would have both hands to swim with instead of having to carry the underwater camera around! It would be perfect for Hawaii!

...But not for many other places. Especially not our cold Northern Californian waters. So out went the snorkel camera.

Now, Sak suggested we go the tried-n-true route for thanking our parents for being our parents: the wedding album. Sounds good, we'll do it! But that kind of gift doesn't come until after the wedding, obviously. And Peng-Mom says she doesn't need no stinkin' album when she can just look at a digital album. She's so high-tech.

So then I had a thought - let's do something completely unlike us, and get gift certificates! To a fairly fancy restaurant called Roy's.

Okay - I know. Giftcards at first glance = lame and unthoughtful. But you have to understand our parents. They don't (as far as I know) do date nights. They are always too busy worrying about their hapless children or friends instead. So I think giftcards, in this case - might be a good idea.

Roy's is a Hawaiian fusion restaurant, and both parents have been before and loved it. Though they are probably more well-known for their seafood, here's some shots of desserts Penga-Mom tried when she went for a graduation party:



Yummm.

I've never actually been to Roy's, even though there's one right here in San Francisco. Sak and I tried fine dining once before, and have been too scared to try again since. But that's a story for a different day.

Anyway, with Roy's gift certificates they can have romantic dinners with just the two of them! Weddings kindle romance, right? Okay, maybe not our wedding, but humor me, please.

However, Sak says, "You know, my parents will just try and bring my grandma along with them. And your parents will just invite their foodie buddies."

I can see that happening (they are chronic non-date-nighters, afterall), but what can I do to stop it? I'll write a strongly-worded letter, saying it's for a romantic dinner for two. And only two! If they choose to ignore my attempts at creating a date-night, well, they can. It's their gift, after all. I'll just sit in a corner and pout a bit.

So did I do the right thing? Or should I have gone with the scuba camera?

Did you give your parents a "thank you" gift? What did you find for them? Do they still have date-nights now and then?

7 comments:

  1. I LOVE the scuba camera and I also love the gift cards. Honestly, parents wouldn't notice if you didn't get them anything the night before the wedding. I have a sneaky feeling they have a lot more on their mind.

    On that not though, we got our parents 8x10s of our engagement photo in a nice Michael's frame. Okay, nothing classy but it actually brought two of our parents to tears! We also gave the moms those lapis crosses I blogged about. So watch out - you give gifts, they'll cry!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Roy's! Don't go there too often since my fiance doesn't eat fish, but I have been to Roy's in Hawaii and San Francisco and both were equally delicious. I think this is a very thoughtful gift, even if the intent (romantic date night) is lost on your parents.

    And do tell about your scary fine dining experience . . . my wallet says I need to be scared of it, too, but my belly says otherwise :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the date night idea! I also think you could get your mom a digital picture frame! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. YAY ROYS! Good choice! Just give them enough on the gift certificate for two. haha. It sure is a tasty place! There's one in Waikiki and in SF! So it's definitely a great gift! And... very Hawaiian-y. :)

    And I think giftcards are great. Pro-giftcards. Don't get me something I don't want or will need to go return.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm very pro-gift card. I know that then they know how much you spend (and yada, yada, yada) but it's way more versatile. One year I got my dad a polo shirt for his birthday (since he always wears polos on weekends) and I came home 6 months later to see in the spot where he probably opened the gift. It didn't even make it to his bedroom 20 feet away!

    Also, do you have any hotel recommendations on Oahu? We're thinking of doing a last-minute mini-moon there!

    ReplyDelete
  6. lol, i'm glad i'm the only one here that thinks giftcards are boring.haha. useful, but kinda anti-climatic..

    @ppg - haha, yeah it involved a fancy french place in ATHERTON and a lot of cold "you dont belong here" stares >.>"

    @tamar - oooh! hawaii moon! we're staying at the aqua waikiki pearl hotel..because it's newly renovated and pretty darn cheap! but there's no pool. but then, why do you need a pool with the beach 2 blocks away? :P unfortunately i only know the cheap hotels cause that's all i can afford, lol. there are a looot of really nice resorts though, turtle bay and ko'olina marriot come to mind for more relaxing spots, since they are not in busy waikiki.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @penga - thanks! i saw the aqua one (as well as hotel renew) and they seemed to be really clean which is #1 importance and were way cheaper than something like the hilton. good to know it was just renovated!

    ReplyDelete